Ever since its introduction, the Bentley Continental had been the world's ultimate Grand Tourer, and with the arrival of the V8-engined version this consummate ability was further enhanced.

Introduced in the autumn of 1959, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II and Bentley S2 appeared externally unchanged from their 'Cloud and S-Series predecessors, though the duo's performance was considerably enhanced by the new 6,230cc aluminium-alloy V8 engine.

Although wider and shorter than the 'six' it replaced, the new power unit fitted relatively easily within the engine bay, relocation of the steering box from inside to outside of the chassis frame being the most obvious alteration to the previous arrangements.

Externally the new models appeared virtually unchanged while beneath the skin Rolls-Royce's own four-speed automatic transmission was now the only one on offer and power steering had been standardised.

Rolls-Royce had envisaged the Bentley Continental as exclusively a two-door car but la...